Where is Justice IN the Church?

Holy Spirit, Guide Us to Restore Justice

In the “REWEW Prayer” by Renew International appearing in parish missalettes across the land, are found these words:
“Send your Holy Spirit enabling us
to recreate our world
and restore justice.”

A task that the Holy Spirit enjoins upon the Church, and we are that Church, is to restore justice. Justice demands that we recognize and respect the dignity and rights of all. As a Church, our official policy is to work toward social justice---justice within the systems of government, the economic powers of business, and the structures of social organizations. If these structures are unjust, the individual’s rights and dignity suffer. In 1971, the third International Synod of Bishops met in Rome to discuss the issue of justice in the world. In a statement to the world, the bishops stated that the work toward justice is not something extra the Church undertakes in the world, but rather that this work is on the same footing as celebrating the sacraments and preaching the word of God.

In “A Century of Social Teaching [nos. 8-9], the American Catholic Bishops state “…We are called to transform our hearts and our social structures, to renew the face of the earth…We cannot celebrate a faith we do not practice. We cannot proclaim a gospel we do not live.”

Unfortunately, the our Church leaders possesses a blind eye when injustices are suffered by the very people who work within the structures of the Church itself---in the chancery, the parish, the school and the other social agencies sponsored by the official Church.

This hypocrisy within the Church has not garnered national and media attention like the sex abuse scandals. But these silent, insidious sins against church employees, perpetrated by cardinals, archbishops, bishops, priests and heads of agencies, scream to Heaven for justice and redress! When it comes to justice for church employees, the official Church does indeed celebrate a faith that is not practiced in reality. And the official Church does proclaim the gospel of justice with its lips---but it is a gospel that is mocked by actual practice.

Canon lawyer Ladislas Orcy, in his “Cracking the Code” states that, “If you are employed by the church, you have a right to fair compensation and benefits.” [US Catholic, October 2007]. The meager salaries of church employees have been cited in Catholic periodicals and newspapers. It has also been pointed out that the salary of priests and the hierarchy is not commensurate with their education and preparation, either. What is not stated is that every bishop and every priest can be moved anywhere in the nation or diocese and he will have the following free benefits: housing, TV cable or satellite, internet provider, utilities, cooking and house cleaning services provided either by the diocese or the parish of ministry. And no matter where they go, bishops and priests do not loose their insurance benefits. While this article does not seek to deny bishops and priests their benefits—it must be noted that the rest of the church employees do not share in these advantages. Even members of religious orders of men and women with vows of poverty---often pay the same bills as the lay employees. One of the greatest fears of chancery and parish employees who lose their jobs, is that they have lost their insurance coverage for themselves and also their dependents.

There are many dioceses and parishes across the country that sin against justice in paying low salaries and wages to their employees. However some dioceses have really horrible records of other injustices inflicted upon their employees and upon the people of the diocese in general. The following is the description of one such diocese that has DONE LITTLE to either cooperate with the Holy Spirit or to take seriously the injunction to restore justice. The name of the diocese is fictional, but the situations and incidents described are real.

The Injustices of Poor Diocesan Organization

Many lay people and religious have ministered to the spiritual and social needs of the people of the Diocese of Dunlittle. But Dunlittle provides no opportunities for these people to network among themselves or to obtain additional on-going training.

There are no diocesan newsletters sent to pastoral ministers or pastoral associates. The diocese does not schedule deanery or diocesan-wide meetings for these people to raise questions, discuss problems or share successes. The diocese does nothing to acknowledge or give support to these church employees and their volunteers. The Office of Catholic Charities of Dunlittle will publicize conferences that are available for people to attend in a neighboring diocese.
But those who can travel that distance are far and few in number. The Office of Lay Ecclesial Ministry does nothing to gather parish ministers, challenge them, or inspire them in their ministries. This office is for all practical purposes a paper office---it does nothing for the people in ministry.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.

When seeking new members to join the diocesan staff, the Diocese of Dunlittle advertises for qualified individuals in the diocesan newspapers of other dioceses, but never in its own diocesan newspaper. The implication seems to be that the people from the Diocese of Dunlittle are not capable of filling positions within their own diocese. Or perhaps the Diocese of Dunlittle fears that the frequency of personnel turnovers within the chancery will raise questions among the people reading the diocesan paper’s want ads. Positions do change often. Or they remain unfilled for years. For example, the average length of time that a diocesan superintendent of Catholic schools remains on the job is just a little over 3 years. The Office for Youth and Young Adults has been unfilled for half a decade. There is no Office for Family Life, or for Faith Formation, or a Vicar for Religious. Although the Diocese of Dunlittle was constituted as a diocese in the 1950’s, it too often operates as though it was canonically established a week ago.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.

Because there is no Office for Faith Formation in the Diocese of Dunlittle, there is no general
plan for the religious formation of children and youth in the diocese. No one meets with principals of Catholic schools or with directors of religious education assisting with the formulation of programs of religious studies. There is no methodology course offered to help teachers and catechists understand the young people that they teach or how to even carry out this ministry. In Catholic schools, in-service days are offered to help teachers master the latest improvements and techniques that are available for the presentation of secular subjects. But in the areas of religious formation, nothing is offered. Most of the teachers and catechists only understand what they are given to teach from their teacher’s text. An in depth understanding of their own faith is often scanty---for teachers and the school principal. This occurs even though the main purpose in having Catholic schools is to give initial religious formation and to develop in the young people an aptitude to keep learning from their experiences. Youngsters need mature religious guidance if they are to confront reality with an unprejudiced eye and learn from it.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.

Injustices Against Church Employees

In most professional settings, the evaluation of employees by their superiors is an opportunity to bring clarity and direction to the profession’s activities. In the area of pastoral ministries and professional duties, this gives both the pastor and the employee an opportunity to gauge the effectiveness of the mission to the people. It also affords the staff an objective criteria by which they understand that their competencies will be judged. However, in the Diocese of Dunlittle, no diocesan forms of evaluation have been created for the various ministries in the parishes. Most parishes have not created their own evaluation forms either. This means that staff members of the parish have no idea as to the criteria by which they are being evaluated. The employees can only hope that the wisdom of God will guide them in the performance of their ministries. They cannot refer to an articulated set of guidelines to direct them.

In situations where and when a new bishop, a new pastor is assigned to a diocese, or a parish, he can apply his own criteria in the evaluation of his inherited staff members. The criteria is not published nor made known to the staff. Because the new pastor often wishes to hire his own staff, the inherited staff can be required to perform tasks in which their failure is guaranteed.
When the staff member fails---her/his ministry at that parish is terminated by the pastor. The staff member finds herself/himself without a job, without insurance benefits—not because they were incompetent, or derelict in the performance of their duties, or because they expressed defiance toward the pastor. They are out of a job because of the pastor’s hidden agenda and motives. They are out of a job because of a permitted miscarriage of justice in the diocese.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.

The very methods used by bishops and pastors in firing employees are in themselves a case study of injustices. The employee may suffer verbal abuse, may have a salary cut without an explanation or may have aspects of her work phased out. A pastor can double or triple the employee’s work-load with hopes that the employee with quit on his own. If that does not work, the pastor can always place a pink slip on the employee’s desk when she goes out for lunch. These tactics, and more, are commonplace in the Diocese of Dunlittle. And sadly, they are probably used in other dioceses across the land. No documentation is utilized to indicate the pastor’s dissatisfaction with the employee’s work. There is no evaluation form to rate work performance. There are no avenues of redress for the employees. There is no justice!

Employees seldom resort to a legal process in retaining their jobs or in tying to obtain a more just recompense for lost wages. Many of those who have lost their positions, and still wishing to carry out a ministry of service, will seek employment in another parish in the diocese. The fired employees would never be able to hold another job within the diocese---if they did not leave their first place of ministry quietly. Or if the fired employee would want a letter of recommendation from anyone in the diocese, just having a reputation for litigation, would sound the death knell for receiving any kind of recommendation.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.

Injustices Against the People of the Diocese

In CANON LAW AS MINISTRY [PAULIST PRESS], Father James A. Coriden describes how authority is to mirror Jesus’ own life of service. He writes “(Authority) means being at the service of others, pure and simple. There is no self-aggrandizement, no ambitious striving for higher or more prestigious positions, no domination of others. Power in the church of Christ is power to serve.” The power to serve also implies that financial gifts given to be used for the good of the diocese are used exactly for that purpose. A large amount of money was ear-marked in an individual’s will to be given to the Diocese of Dunlittle. But the bishop took $20,000 of that money and purchased a decorative light fixture to be placed in his home---the bishop’s mansion.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.

The bishop of Dunlittle is not pro-active in proposing a vision of the future for the diocese. He has not gathered the priests to dialogue with them, to prepare them for the pressures that they would be facing, due to the decreasing numbers among their own ranks. The priests are not prepared for cooperating with each other in joint ministerial planning for their regions. The bishop has not been a prudent shepherd for the priests---to educate and challenge them to rise to the occasion and deal with the problems that they will be facing.

For their part, many of the priests in the Diocese of Dunlittle are very parochial and territorial in their outlook and in their ministries. They know only how to deal with their own parishes, and are not used to thinking of ministering to parishioners in a deanery or region. They are not willing to work with each other or with the neighboring parish staffs in planning programs, in scheduling liturgies or devotions for the good of all the people of a deanery or region.

The people of the Diocese of Dunlittle are suffering the greatest injustices. Although there had been some key questions presented to the people to discuss concerning the future, and there were deanery meetings, many people were unaware that they were actually involved in any type of planning phase. Many of the questions presented to the people to discuss had confusing or multiple implications. And no attempt was made to clarify the actual meaning of the discussion question. Some years have passed since the people were gathered to discuss any questions concerning the future of the diocese. Clear and precise information with opportunities for discussion should be presented to the people to prepare them for school or parish mergers, realignment of regions or other changes

However due to a sizable number of deaths among the priests in a short period of time, and the bishop’s own procrastination, he finds himself backed into a corner with no room to move. The bishop will be making episcopal decisions effecting the priests and people directly, but there will be very little collaboration, cooperation, or counseling to prepare all parties for dealing with the impending changes.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.

This article has only touched upon the many areas of injustice in the dysfunctional Diocese of Dunlittle. The sins against justice, so pronounced in Dunlittle, are also to be found in other dioceses across America, and across the world. When bishops or pastors are more concerned about themselves, they cease to be “shepherds”. They become “hirelings” instead, and injustice does abound. When bishops or pastors view staff members as belonging to them, mere “possessions” hired only to work for the clergy, injustice does abound. When bishops and pastors act in a monarchial style or exercise their authority aloof from the people they are called serve, injustice does abound. If the promotion of justice is to be on the same footing as celebrating the sacraments and preaching the work of God, then justice must be accorded to all.
Volunteers, staff members—women as well as men, parishioners, and non parishioners---all people are to be accorded the justice due to their dignity as daughters and sons of God. If justice and true accountability is not practiced in reality---for all---it becomes hypocrisy. If justice is a gospel only of the lips, not actually practiced---not for all people---that gospel will reap the whirlwind. Authenticity, integrity, service to others, compassion and the practice of justice must be the goal of all Christians---bishops, priests, religious, laity, each and every day.
Holy Spirit, guide us to restore justice.